Hudson County NJ Archives Biographies.....Oliver H. PERRY
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 10, 2008, 3:06 am
Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor (1917)
PERRY, Oliver H.,
Financier, Enterprising Citizen.
The late Oliver H. Perry, of Jersey City, New Jersey, well and favorably known
in business and social circles, had inherited in rich measure the sterling
qualities which characterized his distinguished ancestors. He was a descendant
in a direct line of Edward Perry, a Quaker, who came from Devonshire, England,
to Sandwich, Massachusetts, where, January 1, 1676, he wrote, "A Railing Against
the Court of Plymouth," and was heavily fined for this article. He married Mary,
a daughter of Lieutenant-Governor Edmund and Elizabeth Freeman, and their son
migrated to Rhode Island, where one of his descendants was the famous
Captain Christopher Raymond Perry, of the United States Navy, born at Newport,
Rhode Island, December 4, 1761, and died there, June 1, 1818. He devoted his
life to the service of his country. He first enlisted in the "Kingston Reds;"
served in the patriot army, and then on a privateer, and on the "Mifflin" was
captured, and lay for three months in the "Jersey," the famous prison ship, but
escaped; reenlisted on the "Trumbull," and was in the battle with the "Watt."
Later he was again captured, while on a privateer, and kept a prisoner at Newry,
Ireland. Captain Perry made voyages in the mercantile marine trade to the East
Indies, and his appointment as a post captain in the United States Navy came to
him January 9, 1798. He built and commanded the "General Greene," and cruised in
the West Indies, cooperating with Toussaint L'Ouverture in the civil war in
Santa Domingo. When the navy was nearly disbanded in 1801, he was appointed
collector of Newport, but not long afterward retired to private life. While in
Newry, Ireland, he first met his wife, Sarah Wallace Alexander, whom he married
at Philadelphia, in October, 1784. She was born in Newry, County Down, Ireland,
in 1768, and died in New London, Connecticut, December 4, 1830. Her grandfather
was James Wallace, an officer in the Scotch army, and a signer of the Solemn
League and Covenant, who fled in 1600 with many others from County Ayr to the
North of Ireland. She was left an orphan at an early age, and was provided for
by her uncle's family. She accompanied her parents' friend, Mr. Calbraith, to
this country, and shortly after her arrival married Captain Perry, then mate of
a ship, at the house of the celebrated surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Rush, of
Philadelphia. They had five children. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, son of
Captain Christopher Raymond and Sarah Wallace (Alexander) Perry, was born at
South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23, 1785, and died at Port Spain, Trinidad,
August 23, 1819. He was carefully reared by his mother, who inculcated one truth
beyond all others—that, in order to command others, one must first learn to
obey. He was educated in private schools in Kingston, Tower Hill and Newport,
and was an apt scholar in mathematics and navigation. At the age of twelve years
he was confirmed in the Episcopal church. With his parents he removed to Warren,
Rhode Island, in 1797. April 7, 1799, he received his commission as midshipman,
and cruised in the West Indies. Later he cruised to Louisiana, and then served
in the Tripolitan War. January 15, 1807, he was appointed a lieutenant, and,
after building a fleet of gunboats, commanded the schooner, "Revenge." While
preparing for the War of 1812 he gave deep study to the science of gunnery and
naval tactics, so that when the fight commenced he was considered the best
qualified naval officer in the United States. He had assembled his gunboats and
made his men comprehend the evolutions of a fleet. He tendered his services to
Commodore Isaac Chauncey on the lakes, and, on the request of the latter, Perry
was ordered to Lake Erie. Within twenty-four hours of February 17, 1812, he had
sent ahead a detachment of fifty men, and set off in a sleigh for Lake Erie on
the 22nd, reaching there March 27th. He directed the building of a squadron from
the virgin forest, and by incredible toil collected a force of nine vessels, but
in it were only two vessels which could be classed as men-of-war—the "Lawrence"
and the "Niagara," of five hundred tons burden each, carrying twenty guns
apiece. The British side, under Captain Robert Heriot Barclay, supplied its
ships by dismantling its forts, and he had six vessels of one thousand four
hundred and sixty tons, with sixty-three cannon, or nine more than the American
fleet possessed. Perry moved from Put-in-Bay on the morning of September 10,
1813, to meet the British fleet. The opposing forces approached each other at
eleven o'clock, and when the bugle sounded on the flagship of the British fleet
the men gave three cheers, and the long guns of the "Detroit" opened on the
"Lawrence" at a distance of half a mile. At noon the battle was on in dead
earnest, the heaviest vessels of each fleet confronting each other as in a duel.
The advantage at the start was with Barclay, and the cockpit of the "Lawrence"
was filled with wounded men and the ship reduced to the condition of a hulk.
Under these circumstances, Perry called for men to man a boat, and with the flag
wrapped around his arm was taken to the "Niagara." The breeze coming up now,
aided the Americans to get into position, so that they swept the British decks.
At three o'clock the enemy lowered the British flag, announcing that Great
Britain had lost its entire squadron, and this to a man of twenty-seven years.
It was then that Perry sent the famous despatch to General Harrison, reading:
"We have met the enemy and they are ours." A painting depicting this great
episode in American history may be seen in the rotunda of the Capitol at
Washington. Commodore Perry married Elizabeth C. Mason. A lineal descendant of
Commodore Perry was Dr. Alfonzo Perry, of Rhode Island, who married Marietta
Plate. Their son was
Oliver H. Perry, who was born in New York State, and died in Jersey City, New
Jersey, in 1908. He was the recipient of an excellent education at Rockford
College, New York, and after being graduated from this institution accepted a
clerical position with the Eric Railroad Company, with whom his brother was
already holding a responsible position. Later he engaged in the coal business in
Jersey City, with which he was identified until his death. He was a man of many
sided ability, and was held in high regard in the financial world. He was a
director of the Fifth Ward Bank, and of the Third National Bank of Jersey City.
For a time he was a freeholder of the county. He was a member of the Hollywood
Hunting Club, of the Union League, and the Corate Club.
Mr. Perry married Eugenia Wild, also a native of New York. While taking a fair
share in the social life of the city, Mr. Perry was a man of very domestic
inclinations, and found his chief pleasures in the home circle.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN
VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
1917
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